Quotes from the 2008 Oscar Nominees Luncheon
by Reg Seeton

On February 4, the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills played host to over one-hundred 2008 Oscar nominees and other winners for the star-studded Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ Oscar Nominees Luncheon. Although the writers' strike loomed over the festivities while the nominees received their official nomination certificates, there was an air of congratulatory celebration concerning the Academy's recognition. While negotiations continue in an effort to end the strike, with more progress being made by the week, it's looking more likely that fans might not have to cancel their Oscar parties after all. Well, we certainly hope the writers' strike ends in time to for the Academy to properly organize a regular Oscar telecast on Febraury 24.

Although we were thinking of saving a few press conference quotes that we managed to get from the luncheon event for a larger feature to coincide with the actual ceremony, instead we're rolling out some of what came our way just in case the full Oscar gala gets shelved should the strike continue past the inevitable drop-dead date.

After a year of solid dramatic films, the 2008 slate of Oscar nominees reads like familiar who's who from the Hollywood A-list with a few new faces thrown into the mix for good measure, from George Clooney and his Best Actor in a Leading Role nod for Michael Clayton to Canadian born actress Sarah Polley and her Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Away From Her. If the strike does get resolved in time for a true Oscar telecast, fans will be treated to a crop of diverse Oscar hopefuls.

Although we didn't get quotes from the female side of the 2008 Oscar fence, we did manage to get a few Oscar Luncheon quotes from the star-studded press event in the form of Lead Actor nominee George Clooney, Best Director and Original Screenplay nominee Tony Gilroy for his work on Michael Clayton, and Actor in a Supporting Role nominee Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

QUOTES FROM THE 2008 OSCAR NOMINEES LUNCHEON:

GEORGE CLOONEY (Actor in a Leading Role):

George Clooney on the appeal of legal thrillers and Michael Clayton:

"I think people have always liked legal thrillers. We liked Perry Mason, we always liked those TV shows. I think they’re fun, it’s easy drama in a way because there’s a beginning, middle, and an end to them and there’s a natural drama to trials that sort of plays into films. I think that’s probably it and there [are] characters like these, very flawed, which is more interesting for actors to play."

Clooney on the advice he'd give to Best Actress nominee Ellen Page:

"I can’t give Ellen Page advice, she’s too smart. I have to find some really dumb actor and give them advice, that’s hard to do. I can’t give advice to anybody. There’s a great thing about getting famous a little bit older because then you’ve sort of done all of the dumb mistakes along the way. I can’t give anybody advice, my god."

On Lead Actor nominee Daniel Day-Lewis:

"It’s a funny thing about comparing art and then there’s Daniel Day-Lewis. He screws the whole thing up because he’s so good. He raises the bar for everybody in the room every time he works, so I’m always just happy to be sitting at the table with someone like Dan, particularly Dan. I’m very proud to just be in that category."

On being able to meet various stars at the Oscars:

"It’s a funny thing, I think that a lot of stars are star-struck in a way. I think a lot of famous people are very - you know, you don’t really hang with - it’s not like you go out and have drinks with all of these famous people very often. So there’s something very exciting standing around and meeting or saying hello to - I was just back there talking to Hal Holbrook, and I’ve been a fan of his since I can remember. I think mostly it’s just exciting to be around people like that and you don’t really run out of things to talk about because it’s a bunch of actors, they’ll find something to talk about."

Quotes from the 2008 Oscar Nominees Luncheon Page 2